Arturia Spark 1.5

Arturia is now shipping Version 1.5 of Spark Creative Drum Machine, the latest update to its hybrid hardware/software beat production centre.

Version 1.5 introduces new performance-oriented features and a library totalling 118 kits/1,800 instruments.

New to Version 1.5 is the Tune feature, allowing users to compose melodies on the MIDI controller’s hardware drum pads and sequencer step buttons; the sample engine now enables Choke groups, so users can creatively specify samples that will cut each other off when triggered — suited for emulating a hi-hat ‘choke’, for example (whereby triggering an open-hat sample first, followed immediately by a closed-hat sample will cut off the open-hat prematurely), and also offers creative modes for layering samples (circular, random, stack, threshold); finally, the FX Pad now includes the fOberheim SEM V filter featured in Arturia’s Oberheim SEM V soft synth namesake.

Version 1.5 also sees the library expanded to include 28 new kits exploring the current span of electronic and urban music stylings .